Types of Dental Crowns ; How to Choose Between Them?

September 19, 2018 by The Dental Home0
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Nothing can be more attractive than a healthy, beautiful smile. You must have to take care of your teeth and solve any issues related to it to keep that smile glowing. Sometimes, your dentist may advise you to treat a condition using a dental crown. A crown is a ‘cap’ that covers a tooth, to restore its normal shape and size, to strengthen, to ease the pain, or to improve its appearance.

Your tooth is made up of two parts, one is a root and the other is a crown. The part above the gum line is known as a clinical crown. A cap or dental crown is a restoration that covers the outer side of your clinical crown, to restore its shape, size, and strength, and improve its appearance. Dental crowns may be made from, a metal such as gold or another alloy, stainless steel, porcelain fused to metal, all resin, all ceramic, Zirconia or EMAX

All Metals Crowns

As the name implies these crowns are made up of metal. Metal crowns withstand biting and chewing forces well and probably last the longest in terms of wear down.

ADVANTAGES:

  • High Strength
  • More Longevity
  • High Compatibility
  • Cheaper in price

DISADVANTAGE:

  • Since it is made up of metal so it doesn’t look as esthetic as other crowns

Porcelain-fused-to-metal Crowns:

These dental crowns have a metal coping inside and tooth colored ceramic layer outside which can be color matched to your adjacent teeth so that they look most like normal teeth.

THERE ARE TWO VARIANTS IN THESE

  1. Conventional PFM crowns: these are made in the furnace in laboratories
  2. CAD CAM pfm crowns: These are made through cad cam technology so have very precise fit ad good margin adaptation. These crowns also come with a warranty ranging from 10 to 15 yrs.

ADVANTAGES

  • Looks esthetic compared to a metal crown
  • Cheaper than metal free crown yet provide the advantage of color matching to the adjacent tooth

DISADVANTAGE

  • With time when your gums recess, a bluish hue of metal may be visible around your gum line

Zirconia crown

Zirconia crown is getting more and more popularity due to its extreme durability and natural look. It is a superior quality metal free crown.

ADVANTAGES:

  • Superior looks:
  • More confident smile
  • 100% biocompatible
  • Extraordinarily tough
  • They bond well with your tooth
  • Metal-free

DISADVANTAGE

  • Sligh Costly Compare to SLIGHT COSTLY COMPARE TO OTHER OPTIONS.

EMAX Crown

EMAX is measured to be the finest match for natural teeth because of its transparency. It comes in small blocks for a conventional wax & press technique, so you will be able to gain exact fit and improved strength.

ADVANTAGES

  • Best esthetics

DISADVANTAGE

  • Costly

How to choose a crown

While selecting a crown, it’s very important to know that there’s no single type of crown that always makes the best choice in every application. The right selection of crowns constantly differs depending on the requirements of the patient’s exact conditions. Here are some examples that can give you an idea of what types of crowns commonly make the best choice in certain conditions.

For front teeth

If your lip line is very high, your front teeth will mostly be on display to others. In this situation, placing an all-ceramic crown(E max) might be the first option because of the esthetics that this kind of restoration can give. Placing a porcelain-fused-to-metal or milled all-ceramic may also give better results.

When only a portion of the teeth is visible, the esthetic demands is reduced and therefore, other characteristics such as strength and durability may be given more importance in the selection process. Porcelain-fused-to-metal, all-ceramic or milled all-ceramic might be considered for this type of application.

For Back Teeth:

  • Molars:- If patient’s molars show very little while opening their mouth, the strength and durability can be the main criteria of selecting a crown and in conditions where the appearance of molars is an issue, porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns provide excellent service and are more aesthetically satisfying than all-metal ones. Milled all-ceramic crowns (particularly zirconia) may also be a sensible choice.
  • Premolars:- Although premolars usually hold a prominent spot in a person’s smile, they are defined as ‘back teeth’ and it can be expected that they may be exposed to heavy chewing forces. Porcelain-Fused-To-Metal crowns which are attractive in appearance and have a long track record of being strong, durable restorations can be a suitable option.

Do not delay and select the best crown to protect your teeth and enhance your beautiful smile.